The invention relates to gravimetric measuring instruments, and to systems with a gravimetric measuring instrument, and to the creation of application programs for execution by a gravimetric measuring instrument. Particularly affected are electronic balances and/or scales which are linked via a network connection to a network and a computer, or which can be linked directly to a computer via a serial interface, USB, or wireless connection.
Normally, balances and/or scales, as they are used in research, development, and production, are realized as independent devices which require only an electric power supply to be capable of use.
There are electronic balances and/or scales which have a network interface and can be operated in an internetwork. Normally, for this purpose, the balance or scale is fitted with a simple RS-232 interface. The possibilities afforded by connection to a network are not exhausted by any means. Applications are now being developed which increasingly make use of connection to a network.
In laboratories, particularly in industrial manufacturing, there are numerous processes which require exact reproducibility of all process-steps. For this purpose, exact and unmodifiable documentation is an absolute necessity. Many institutions and companies have either created their own rules (called, for example, “Standard Operating Procedures”) for defining and documenting the processes in their laboratories or manufacturing plants, or they use sets of rules which are laid down, for example, in the form of standards or legal regulations.
An example of a software-based solution which supports the creation of “Standard Operating Procedures” (SOP) is described in European Patent Application 02100040.1 with the title “Programmable Device with a Gravimetric Measuring Instrument, Method of Programming such a Device, and Software for Executing this Method”. This application was submitted on Jan. 18, 2002 in the name of the company Mettler Toledo GmbH, and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
A further example of a software which allows definition of certain SOPs is the “Balance Data System” (BDS) of the company Labtronics Inc. of Canada. This is a software which supports and simplifies use of scales and balances. The software guides the user through the process, and ensures that the SOPs are complied with. Details of BDS can be found, for example, in the brochure “BDS Balance Data System” of Labtronics Inc., which at the time of the application can be ordered from http://www.balanceinfo.com/bds.htm. However, associated with BDS is the disadvantage that data communication between the computer on which BDS is installed, and the gravimetric measuring instrument, must be installed at all times; alternatively, connected to the measuring instrument can be a simpler instrument such as a PDA, on which a minimum part of BDS is installed, and which serves as a storage buffer for the data, the latter being then transported to the BDS computer via a different route. The BDS only allows definition and execution of a closed sequential procedure, and therefore has only limited flexibility. Depending on the configuration and application, the user must alternately make inputs to the computer and to the scale/balance, which is a hindrance.
Especially in the pharmaceutical, food, and chemical field, as well as in the medical and health fields, adherence to prescribed procedures and rules is important. Under certain circumstances, for example, the approval of a medicine, or the certification of industrial procedures, depends on whether the respective institution or company is able to guarantee adherence to prescribed procedures and rules. Aspects which are of importance in this connection are: use management (e.g. the assignment of rights of use); access security; identification and authentication of users; audit trail (e.g. in the form of a record of all relevant steps); change management (e.g. in the form of a record of all changes); and central data storage, to quote a few examples.
A known example is the so-called Title 21 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 11, which is increasingly followed in the USA and other countries.
There are, for example, so-called laboratory information management systems (LIMS) which allow all steps and operations to be documented meticulously.